With Or Without You (Completed)

Chapter 1

"Bye, don't forget to call me at least once a week," Elli shouted out as Emma waved at her one last time. "Sarah, Sammy, remember to keep your daddy in line," she further said in that loud tone while weeping badly. "Take care!"

Right next to her, Oliver flinched. He jabbed one elbow in Elli's side. "Are you done in your attempts of deafening me," he said and then looked around. "And others as well. Damn, Elli! We're in a airport."

Wiping her eyes and blowing her nose in a tissue, Elli took a deep breath and then turned to glare at Oliver. "Don't you have a heart, Oliver? I just bid farewell to Emma who's been my best friend since the last five and a half years, I've the right to shed tears, shout byes at her and her children, threaten the father of her children one last time and cause any damn scene I want to."

Clearly irritated by that long speech Oliver glared back at her. "This is a public place, not your father's home where you can be a spoiled brat and do whatever the hell you like,"he paused for a second to breath. "Hell, that father of Emma's children you keep threatening - Brandan is my friend as well, that didn't make me holler down the airport and cry like someone has died or something." 

The next moment, Elli had a finger jabbed sharply on Oliver's chest. "That's because you're one insensitive fool," she spat out. "You suck!"

Oliver threw up his hands. "Now if I comment on your innuendo cussing words, you would scream rape, I don't understand you women!"

Curling her finger in, Elli closed her eyes for a moment and took deep, slow breaths. Calm. She needed to calm herself down. It was Oliver, he was always like this. He was not a human, he was a baboon and that was freaking why all his nonsense should be ignored. 

Deep breaths. Calm. She was the epitome of calm. 

Elli opened her eyes and spared a short glance at Oliver who was staring at her weirdly. Then she turned around to leave his irritating presence. She figured that Oliver would understand that she was done arguing with him for the day and would leave her alone. But that didn't happen, did it?

Someone's running footsteps approached her from behind and before she could even turn back that someone had spun her around. 

Screaming low, Elli had to balance herself. For a fraction of a second she hoped, just like in the movies, it was her prince charming that bumped into her, and for another little fraction of a second she hoped the prince charming would catch her in his strong arms before she fell on the hard ground. But sadly, prince charmings hardly existed in real world.

The proof was Oliver standing like a cripple in front of her, and looking down she realized she was grabbing the waistband of his jeans near his hip. 

Heights of embarrassment!

Red faced, Elli withdrew her hand and stood herself straight. She was about to scowl at Oliver when she noticed the horrid look on his face. 

"What is it, now?" she asked curiously.

"We," Oliver paused for a second and then he said, "Elli, we need to stop the plane from taking off." 

Heart pounding in her chest, Elli looked at Oliver with wide, scared eyes. Was there a bomb in the plane that Emma, Brandan and the kids boarded in? Were there terrorists? Or was it something else? Like a screw loose in the left wing or it might be the assistant pilot who was actually a freaking serial killer in sheep's clothing. Elli never liked pilots anyway. There was nothing normal in driving above the clouds.

"Why? What's wrong?" Elli managed to croak out. "Did someone tell you something?"

She looked around as if that unknown informer was still around whispering into people's ears of the defects that one of the planes had.